Disneyland and L.A.

Saturday, January 10-11, 2015

Disneyland and L.A.

We woke up around 8 on Saturday morning and we started getting ready. We were going to Disneyland about 9. When I was ready, Ben said that he would take me down to breakfast so we wouldn't have to wait for everyone else. While we were eating breakfast downstairs, it started raining and that was kind of concerning because we were going to Disneyland and we were going to be there all day. About ten minutes to 9, the rest of my family joined us downstairs.

We left for Disneyland a little after nine. It took us about five minutes to walk to the entrance. We like to stick together at Disneyland because it is one of the few parks where everyone in the family can go on everything. It was raining kind of hard by the time we were in the park and everyone was upset to hear that Matterhorn and some other good rides were closed.

We started in Fantasy Land, where we went on rides Peter Pan and my Dads favorite: Mr. Toads Wild Ride-he gets very excited when you drive the car to hell.

Then we went to Frontier Land going on The Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain(which barely had any line), and the one of the family's favorite: Pirates of the Carrabean.

Then we went to Adventure Land where we went on Indianna Jones which we have had issues with in the past. Last time my younger siblings came out crying but this time they had a great time. Noah was the one "driving" and he did a great job not even touching the wheel.

Then we went and got fast passes for Thunder Mountain. None of the kids in my family have been on it because it has been closed the last couple of times we have gone and my parents said they remember it not being that fun but when we went my whole family said it was one of the best rides.

Then we went to Space Mountain in Tomorrow Land where we waited one hour and two minutes but it was totally worth it.

After that we had dinner then we split up for the first time all day(except for the times Lucy kept getting lost). Noah, Lucy, and My mom went to go on some kid rides while me, Ben and my dad went on Indianna Jones again. When we got there, the line was huge! We were deciding if we really wanted to go on it when this random guy ran up to us and gave us two fast passes for it then went away.

My dad said that me and Ben should go but from my previous experiences from going with Ben on rides and rollercoasters, I said I wouldn't go without my dad. We went up to a "cast member" and told her what was going on. She took the passes and gave a one pass and said it would count for all three of us and that we can take up to six people on another ride and go in the fast pass line. So we went on Indianna Jones and then met back up with the others and told them what happened. We decided that we would use the pass for Space Mountain.

We went on Buzz Lightyear, Star Tours, and Space Mountain. Then we realized the park was closing in fifteen minutes so we ran to Thunder Mountain and went on it again. After that we saw we only had five minutes and so we ran to Pirrates of the Carrabean and got there one minute before the park closed. After that we went to get ice cream on the way out of the park but while my mom was about to pay she realized that she had lost her debit card so my dad paid while she shut down the card over the phone.

We left the park and went back to the hotel. We were all very tired. Then we realized we had been at Disneyland for a whole 15 hours. Though we were there for a very long time and it was rainy, we had a great time.

The next day we woke up at about ten. We packed the car and left for L.A. We ate lunch at a really good burger place(yes, burgers...AGAIN) called Fat Burger. After that we walked passed some premier theaters and got really good ice cream sandwhiches at a place called Diddy Reese. After that we drove by some of my parents apartments they used to live in before they had kids. We also drove by this cemetery with hundreds of graves for men in the war.

Then we drove up the mountain to an art museum called the Getty. You can only drive halfway up and you have to take a train the rest if the way because their are no roads up there. We were up there for awhile but my favorite part, the gardens were closed. My brother Noah started feeling sick so we decided to go to Santa Monica beach to watch the sun go down. I collected many beautiful and unique shells. After we ate at a resteraunt on the beach called Gladestones. While they were eating the Golden Globes awards were playing on TV so we got to watch some of that.

After that we dropped off Ben and my dad at the airport and drove to our friends house about and hour out of San Diego. Our friend is named Amy she lives by herself in this gorgeous house on a hill where a bunch of rich people live. We drove there in the dark so we couldn't see anything but the house was gorgeous. Amy was babysitting her grandma so she wasn't there for the first few nights.

The weekend was very fun and I had a great time.

Picture at the entrance of Disneyland

Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney Statue

Me in front of the castle with Noah photo bombing.

Ben in front of Mr. Toads Wild Ride

Mr. Toad

Me and Mr. Toad

My mom took a selfie of me, my dad, and herself on Splash Mountain

This is the picture they take when you go to the top of the waterfall in Splash Mountain.(Starting at the top) Ben, Dad, Me, Mom, Lucy and Noah.

Then the next time we went, we all (except for dad) decided to go like this:

And the last time we went on Splash Mountain:

When we went on Space Mountain. I covered my face with my hand because I didn't know what face to make.

Me at the top of Tarzan's tree house, in front of Fronteir Land.

Then the next day at Diddy Reese, my Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies around Mint Chocolate Ice Cream.

Ben, Me, Noah and Lucy at Diddy Reese.

Me and Lucy at Santa Monica Beach

Santa Monica Beach at sunset.

Noah goes to Disneyland

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Last Saturday I went to Disneyland with my family. It was crowded and rainy, but I had fun and we were able to walk on a lot of rides.  It smelled like popcorn and there was music everywhere. 

For lunch we ate at the French Market, and I tried the corn chowder in a bread bowl but traded it for mac-n-cheese. There were live jazz musicians playing while we ate.  

I liked Autopia in tomorrowland, I drove the car and Ben pressed on the pedal--I could have, but it was a little hard with the slippery pedal. I liked Pirates of the Carribean the best--I liked that he said, “Dead men tell no tales” a lot of times.  I loved all the mountains--Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Thunder Mountain.  Our longest wait was for Space Mountain, but we got a fast pass later and went again. We walked on to Splash a few times and onto Thunder twice. I got to become Ironman in Innoventions and meet Captain America.  The Haunted Mansion was the Nightmare Before Christmas style still, which was weird.  I like the regular one.  But I liked the hall with floating Zero in it. I saw my goat Dangit holding some dynamite in his mouth on a rock on the top of Thunder Mountain.  

I really don’t like the Indiana Jones ride, its just so rumbly and dark and loud, and you feel like it’s over but it’s not, but I do like the Indiana Jones movie.  Our Jungle Cruise tour guide was funny and told good jokes.  I like Mr. Toad’s wild ride because the whole story is that he’s a bad driver and blows himself up and goes to hell.  I like the first part because you go in through a place and then turn around and come back out and it looks like you are going where you started, then you look like you’re going to hit people but end up going through a wall.  For dinner we ate at the Golden Horseshoe in Frontierland, but I didn’t like it.  We stayed until it closed at 11 and walked to our hotel.

We forgot to go on Winnie the Pooh, so next time I’d start with that.   If others are visiting, I’d warn them that Indiana Jones is kind of creepy.  

Overall I give Disneyland 5 stars.

Noah, age 10

WHA?!?!

Here is Ben's album cover from 1973. Also known as his symphonic band picture from this year. He can't wait to finish the scouting event so he can start back on this hair project again. Can you believe how beautiful this boy is???

Fall band concert

I was such a proud mama tonight! Ben was awesome in jazz band to start out, then Sophie had her debut with the flute in the beginning band, then been finished up with the symphonic band, the top Junior High band in the state, and one of the top in the country. They looked great and had a fun time making music and being the center of attention. Ben got his symphonic band pictures back and lamented that he had to cut his hair for the big scout celebration where he is playing trumpet next week. I will have to send that one next.

Noah turns nine!

I need to put more down about this, but here are a few pictures from Noah's birthday yesterday. He wanted pizza at the Pie, his first visit there, then we went for cake and hot chocolate at Gourmandise. He had a nice SLC-style birthday. I can't believe my sweet little guy is losing his pudgy cheeks and growing up.

Farewell Spencer

Sophie and I skipped work and school Wednesday to go see off my nephew to the MTC. Have fun in Ontario, Spencer!

Sophie and her cousin Julianna got to go to baptisms afterward at the Provo Temple.

Red ribbon week: crazy hair day

Noah and Lucy took advantage of crazy hair day this year.

Baptisms in Brigham City

For her birthday, Sophie wanted to go do baptisms. We got a recommend a little early from the Bishop so that we could go today and skip school. This is a temple she went through for the open house so she feels attached to it. No one else was there, so she had the place to herself and about 10 temple workers wishing her happy birthday and helping her through. That won't happen again, usually Ben and I wait in long lines each week! It is a very beautiful town!

Sophie says: It was the best feeling of my life! It was awesome!

Sophie is 12!

I didn't update her 8 YO movie yet but we watched it this morning with tears and smiles.  I looked for it on the blog but the video was no longer in the post!  I put it below.

Happy birthday, my newly minted young woman!

Cleaning: My Quotidian Liturgy

Don't get me wrong, I don't clean very much and would love to build a habit of liturgy--daily worship--through my cleaning, but this blog post is a comfort to anyone feeling ground down by the daily grind and repetition of caring for a home and family. I am reading the author's book, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are. It was recommended to me by my visiting teacher when I explained that Heavenly Father had started to gently show me that ingratitude was my greatest sin, the root of all my unhappiness, and conscious, deliberate and specific thankfulness was bringing my greatest healing. This book truly has taught me new ways to see that recent revelation. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Noah won his first soccer game!

Super rainy, so they only played 5 minutes, but they scored a point an his first soccer game was deemed a fun success.

Back to School 2013-14

Noah's in 3rd and Lucy is in 2nd. Ben (9th) and Sophie (7th) started earlier so I will need to get pictures after school. Everyone is very close to home this time so I'm hopeful for a more peaceful, simple way of life this school year with very little driving, yay!

Lucy's Ears

Lucy's ear surgery this morning went just fine, Her third set of tubes, thankfully the only preemie problem we have. She is barfing and groggy but will rest today and be back to ballet tomorrow. Her hearing loss should be corrected hopefully, just in time for school Monday.

Ben turns 14

Wow, my firstborn was ordained a Teacher on Sunday. Although he is getting a little bit too cool for everything, he actually is pretty cool. He is just about taller than his dad, give him a couple more months. He found a few of his dad's old suits in the closet and they fit! I'll add a picture of that.

Ben gets good grades and loves playing trumpet in the jazz band--he also got into the main symphonic band, the best one in the state! In his spare time you will often find him longboarding around town and he is starting to get into cycling, he got a jersey and some shorts and a helmet for his birthday, plus a bike tuneup from mommy's mom. Every winter he participates in the snowboarding club at school also. He also loves going up on the slopes with his dad a couple of times a year.

He got to move to the upstairs bedroom after hitting his head on the ceiling going downstairs, so he is now in the adult section of the house and happy to have a nice new bedroom. This year he has been getting into action movies, Ironman and Superman, the robots versus dinosaur movies, etc. and go ahead and judge us, we are letting him watch LOST. Most of all, Ben is an outdoors type of guy. He loves camping and fishing and hiking. Right now he wants to go into environmental sciences, and is taking his first AP class in this area this year as he goes into ninth grade. He's most interested in forestry but also considering geology. I'm looking for some kind of outdoor summer job for him next year that will allow him to be outside working in nature, possibly a boys camp or something like that, let me know if you have ideas.

Things I love about Ben: he is willing to work hard physically, he is very independent and generally stays on top of what needs to happen, which is a huge help to me. He is very intelligent and if you can get him to do it, gives a very nice hug.

He seems very low-key and unlike his early years, is not excitable at all, but can pop off with some pretty funny things sometimes, like his recurring joke that anytime you prefer a color of anything, even a snow cone, he will call you a racist.

He's trying to figure out the world and what is important and seems to have a pretty good head on his shoulders. He seems to innately understand that, and temptations for boys his age represents the restriction of freedom and the kind of shackles, and he seems to have an internal desire to avoid losing his independence in that way.

Socially he sticks to one on one situations generally and seems comfortable being on his own, like his dad--he likes peace and quiet. This is probably why he likes to go to grandma and grandpas as much as possible where there are fewer small and yelling children (and fewer larger, but sometimes also yelling, adults).

I love him, I'm excited for his future. We've been trying to make it to the temple together weekly, it's something I felt I need to do with him, and it has helped me have a sense of who he is. Teenagers are definitely a whole different world for me. Seminary is starting this year too, he's not super enthusiastic but I'm hoping it will be a place he can answer his questions and feel the Spirit. I don't know what the Lord has planned for him, but I know that Ben can do great things. I am very lucky to be his mom.

Davis County Fair 2

Lucy did a great job for her first time in showmanship.

Davis County Fair

Although we live just one minute away, we have not come for the last two years. And although I was raised in Davis county, I don't remember ever being here. Our neighbor is heavily involved in 4H and the fair and encouraged us to enter our chickens. Lucy even participated in the showing competition where you hold and present your chicken. She got a blue ribbon. Sophie's hen won first place and got a champion hen trophy! Noah got first place for a warty Pat-A-Pan summer squash he entered in the living arts. Sophie also had some sewing projects in that I have not seen results for yet. This has been so much fun for so little effort. I'm so glad we did it.